Sermon and Worship Resources

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Showing 476 to 500 of 1131 results

476. Only the Wounded Can Serve

Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... educator Booker T. Washington writing of the "advantage of disadvantages." Those who have known some of the costliness of life have also been its best interpreters. To be a wounded soldier is neither to admit defeat nor is it to lie down in surrender to the inevitable. Without wounded soldiers, the history of mankind would be much different from what it is today. But in Love’s service, those who themselves have known so vividly the pain and anguish of inner frustration, fear, bitterness and the blackness ...

477. To Hoist a Sail

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... , gathered for prayer, were engulfed by a stupendous life-surge. There was neither time nor inclination to question or speculate. All they could really do was respond to the miracle of God’s inspiration. That they did, by hoisting the sails of the soul, surrendering their lives to an overpowering influence and setting out to transform the world. The church was born at a wake. In the midst of a group of bewildered individuals, still lamenting the loss of an ever-present leadership, the wind of God stirred ...

478. On Being Able to Be Sorry

Luke 15:11-32

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... your promise that you would die with him? And yet you ran away in the hour of danger and lied and cursed. What right have you to be in this church?" "Yes," answered Peter, "I remember. I grieved over my sins, and admitted my sorrow. And after that I fully surrendered and I followed him, even to a cross and death." The Bible is not filled with super-saints who knew no sin. It is peopled with men and women who were able to say, "I’m sorry" and wanted to say it, even though they knew God loved them ...

479. The Cunning Craftsman, God

Luke 18:9-14

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... in the new kingdom, Paul who was a cruel inquisitor. Reading its pages we realize that here is recorded not only good about men, but also the worst, as well. Yet God, the cunning craftsman, took each of these individuals in the moment of humility and surrender. With forgiving and patient love he helped each to fashion a noble and useful life. In the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the Publican who had wandered in far fields smote his breast and beseeched God’s mercy on him. Like a clumsy artisan ...

480. Running With Patience

Hebrews 12:1-13

Sermon

Allan J. Weenink

... the best signs in the worst times and the grace to accept what cannot be changed. It is an art to be practiced, a skill to be sharpened, a faith to be kept, a philosophy to maintain and a hope to keep bright. It is not blind surrender to inevitable fate, euphoric capitulation without effort, nor stuporous cowardice that ceases to care. Into every life come those moments, days, weeks, and even years when all the pieces of the puzzle do not seem to be present, when the clear course of action appears blurred ...

481. The Most Misunderstood Gift

Acts 2:1-13

Sermon

Barbara Brokhoff

... best evidences whereby we know if the Holy Spirit is truly within us. The stance of our United Methodist Church in this matter is that we are "critical of classic pentecostalism when it infers that ‘one who does not speak in tongues is guilty of withholding a full surrender of the self to the will and purpose of God.’ " The Holy Spirit comes to us always in the Word and the Sacraments. The Holy Spirit is an agent of conversion. It is wrong to think we only get a "taste" of the Holy Spirit at Baptism and ...

482. An Invitation to a Feast

Matthew 22:1-14

Sermon

Jerry L. Schmalemberger

... the invitation issued. We must not allow anything to get in our road. A feast of love and companionship and peace and security is ours. God wants us to have it. He pleads with us to please come. If you have held back, really not given in, not surrendered to Christ and his church, if so far you’ve just been a wary spectator, a feast is waiting for you - the banquet is ready. This invitation isn’t just for outsiders and unbaptized and unchurched people; we who have been members of the congregation all our ...

483. Justification and Reconciliation

Romans 3:21-31

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... the gift of God himself."12 And the righteousness which justification involves is not an ethical quality in man but his relation to God. Justification is God’s own action in rightwising this relation, thus making fellowship with him possible. Faith is surrender to the grace of God, accepting and living by what God gives. So it is also with reconciliation. The exhortation "Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20) rests on the proclamation "while we were yet enemies we were reconciled to God" (Romans ...

484. Salvation as Personal Experience

Romans 9:30--10:21

Sermon Aid

T. A. Kantonen

... , knowledge, and trust, Paul understands faith as obedience. The purpose of his apostleship, he says, is to produce a hypakoe pisteos, the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5). The acceptance of the gospel in faith is an act of obedience whereby, like Abraham, one surrenders his own will to the will of God. Thus Paul describes faith as "obedience in acknowledging the gospel of Christ" (2 Corinthians 9:13) and accuses the Jews who have not come to faith of disobedience to the gospel (Romans 10:16). The believer ...

485. EPISODE 6: THE SIXTH WEEK IN LENT

Drama

Robert Clausen

... Peter. This is God’s plan. Will you keep me from going through with it? [JESUS touches the CAPTAIN who rises, expecting to find a wound, and finds none.] SOLDIER: I thought he’d got you for sure, Captain. CAPTAIN: [To PETER] Give me that knife! [PETER surrenders the knife.] Now, all of you ... get out while the getting’s good ... or I’ll throw the whole pack of you in jail! [PETER, JOHN and THOMAS run away.] CAPTAIN: Now, put the handcuffs on him. [The SOLDIER places handcuffs on JESUS.] JESUS: Am I ...

486. The Time of Our Visitation

Sermon

Leonard Mann

... taking our own sins upon himself; he has entered into all we can ever feel, and no need of ours is ever beyond his skill. He has come to this world and bought it with his blood, laid claim to it by his love; and he is not going to surrender his world to the greedy, or the mighty, or the power-mad, or the vain, or to any sensual and licentious animal. With compassionate eyes he is pleading; with wounded hands he is beckoning; and he calls us to our knees, and from our knees to our feet, and from ...

487. Still A Threat

Matthew 21:1-11

Illustration

... week, we'd have him nailed to a cross, too. Why? Because the Kingdom Jesus came to establish still threatens the kingdoms of this world -- your kingdom and mine -- the kingdoms where greed, power, and lust rule instead of grace, mercy, and peace. And who among us really wants to surrender our lives to that Kingdom and that King?

488. The Waters of Your Baptism

Colossians 2:6-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... -Korean name. Smitty told him that many years ago he fought with the Americans during the Korean War. He became good friends with an American GI named Smitty. Often they shared the same foxhole. One day the enemy lobed a grenade into that foxhole. Smitty dove on top of it, surrendering his life to save his Korean buddy. So, said Smitty Lee, I took the name of this man who died for me. I must live for him. We are people who know that Jesus died for us. Out of gratitude we take his name and live for him. In ...

489. Failures Need Not Be Fatal!

Mark 14:66-72

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... us up after a failure, changes us in vital ways, empowers us, and sends us right back to the place where we fell on our faces, to claim that battlefield for Christ, the plant the flag of victory where we had earlier run up the white flag of surrender. Our Lord even bends our failures to some good purpose. We learn from our failures. The great golfer Bobby Jones once said, "I never learned anything from a golf tournament that I won; I learned golf from the ones I lost." Similarly, our Lord removes from our ...

490. A Wonderful Sacrifice

1 Chronicles 21:1-22:1

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... boy rose to the occasion. He whispered, "Here Gramma, you take my quarter and put it in, and I'll hide under the pew." That must have been a Methodist kid. Can a sacrifice really be wonderful? Remember the dictionary definition of sacrifice: the surrender of something prized for the sake of something which has a higher claim. When one sacrifices cheerfully in response to a high and noble claim, that sacrifice is truly wonderful. A biblical character who can teach us something about sacrifice is that great ...

491. Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

1 Kings 18:16-46

Sermon

Don Yocom

... God. They can pick a time in the day when the family can be together and keep a regular schedule of family worship. Children enjoy taking turns reading and can offer a simple prayer also. We must rebuild the altar to God in our hearts. Here we surrender to Him all those hidden things. Sometimes renewal cannot come to a church until a "key person" makes the step forward. We have seen that happen, too. When the lay leader of one church we know about renewed his commitment with God, others did the same, and ...

492. Jeremiah and the Potter

Jeremiah 18:1--19:15

Sermon

Don Yocom

... is boasted of human display Must yield to God’s hand and be taken away. (Anonymous) A young man was employed in a hardware store in Fostoria, Ohio, in the years 1938 and 1939. In the winter of 1939, he felt the touch of the Potter’s Hand as he surrendered his life to God. From that time on he had a new purpose for living. For the first time in his life, he was able to save money, since he realized he would have to go to college and get an education to serve God in the ministry. Through the ...

493. A Kudzu-Kind of Kingdom

Matthew 13:1-23

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... because the invited evangelist, in the opinion of the pastors, was lacking in sophistication. But a Presbyterian Sunday School teacher ignored the ministerial association and encouraged his students to attend. In response, the lanky son of a dairy farmer attended the revival. There he surrendered his heart to Christ. The whole world has heard the name of that farmer's son--Billy Graham. No one recalls the name of the Sunday School teacher who invited him, no one except God. That's the way it is in the ...

494. No Retaliation

Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... outer garment which served as a robe by day and a blanket by night. Jewish law stated that a man's cloak could not be taken away from him overnight. But Jesus is saying: Don't stand on your legal rights; if it serves the ministry, be willing to surrender one's legal rights. Such an attitude, if it became operative in our society, might put a lot of lawyers out of work. Fortunately for them, the trend of the times is in the opposite direction. Lots of people are trying to sue somebody. Memphis has a crisis ...

495. God Makes The First Move

John 6:25-59

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... lose some of your best buddies. He might interfere with your hunting and fishing. He might turn you into some kind of hypocrite. He might get into your bank account. You might become a wimp." The resistance will be there. Just count on it. The Evil One will not surrender any of us without a fight. But also remember this: "The One who is in us is greater than He who is in the world." FINALLY, A FOURTH TRUTH FROM JOHN 6:44: IF YOU RESPOND TO PREVIENT GRACE, YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO SALVATION There are further ...

496. The Snake: A Slick Salesman

Genesis 3:1-24

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... you are part of a post-castor oil generation. Castor oil was a medicine so foul that it permanently damaged my taste buds. My mother would mix castor oil with orange juice to hide its foulness. But faced with castor oil, the orange juice would just surrender and go limp. The devil tried to "orange juice" the temptation to Eve, hiding the costs of sin inside the allurements of greater knowledge and power. Like any good fisherman, the devil exposed the bait but hid the hook. The devil's favorite bait is money ...

497. Right on the Money!

Proverbs 10:1-32

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... one at a time. THE FIRST ADMONITION IS THIS: AVOID DEBT. IN PROVERBS 22:07 WE READ, "THE RICH RULES OVER THE POOR. AND THE BORROWER IS THE SLAVE TO THE LENDER.” Notice that debt is not called evil. There is just the ling that the debtor surrenders some of his freedom to the lender. Therefore, if we borrow, we must do so strategically, wisely and with restraint. Everybody knows that it is wise to borrow to buy a house. That is usually an appreciating asset. But to borrow for consumer goods is dangerous and ...

498. Children of God

Romans 8:18-27, Romans 8:1-17

Bulletin Aid

James Wilson

... daily living keep us from knowing the peace and joy of Your presence in our lives. Forgive us, Lord, and help us to keep our focus on who we are in You. In Christ we pray. Amen. Hymns "All Glory, Laud, And Honor" "Jesus, Keep Me Near The Cross" "I Surrender All"

499. My Colors Will Be Clear

Matthew 14:22-36

Sermon

Bill Bouknight

... , he said to the Christians in the city of Laodicea, "Because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3: 16) God is looking for more than a one-time commitment from us. He wants a daily surrender from us. He wants total yieldedness, absolute availability for his purpose. He wants people who will try to walk on water if he asks them. He wants disciples who fly the colors boldly. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Church is fond of saying, "95 percent devotion to ...

500. Anguish

Matthew 27:45-56

Sermon

Burton F. Blair

... faithful to his Father’s will for his life. Strange as it may seem, God answered Jesus’ prayer concerning this cup by thrusting nails into his hands (wrist) and his feet. This cup was a cup of suffering and death. This was the Father’s will. And, thus, Jesus surrendered to it. Jesus took the cup and drank it. As he drank the very last, bitter dregs of it, it was there that he found these words of separation, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In these words, Jesus tells us that he is feeling ...

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